Great Crested Newt are amphibians which live on land for most of the year and in waterbodies during their breeding season. Reliant on mid-successional ponds for breeding they also require foraging habitat such as woodland, hedgerows, scrub and rough grassland with cover for refuge and hibernation.

Vegetated habitats up to 500m from waterbodies may be occupied or used for dispersal provided there are no barriers like roads with drop kerbs, other built land (buildings, walls etc), extreme landforms or rivers. Breeding ponds within 250m of each other often form meta-populations.

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Keystone Ecology is one of our preferred suppliers. They negotiate effectively with regulators and planners to ensure that survey effort and mitigation proposals put forward are proportionate and robust. They understand project deadlines and help to reduce time delays by investigating sites at the earliest opportunity and through careful advance planning.